Harbinger

by Ken Lozito

  Sean broke down the entirety of the mission step by step from when they’d first left this universe to when they realized they had a problem with targeting and couldn’t return home. The more Sean told them, the more Connor began to understand the amount of strain that had been put on the entire battle group. More than a few times, Connor and Nathan shared a glance.

  “I know there will be a formal investigation,” Sean said.

  “You can count on it, but before we get to that, there's something I’d like to say,” Connor began. “What you and your crew have gone through is beyond anything we could’ve imagined when you left. You’ve gone through hell and lived to come out the other side. I don’t want you to discount the accomplishments you’ve achieved, especially in light of what’s coming. And what's coming is going to challenge you in particular, but I want you to know that you’re not alone. This is the part of the job no one likes, where every decision you made is scrutinized by people who weren’t there. It’s frustrating as all hell, but it makes us better. Try and remember that.”

  Sean gave a crisp nod. “I will, sir.”

  “I can only echo what Connor has said. This investigation is going to take some time to get through. It’s not going to end in a few days,” Nathan said.

  “What happens now?” Sean asked.

  “There are going to be long days ahead where you’re going to be asked a lot of questions regarding your reports. This will involve all of the senior officers and probably everyone in Trident Battle Group,” Connor said.

  Sean swallowed and looked away for a moment.

  “We need to get through this so we can continue our work building a strategy for the Krake,” Nathan said.

  “There’s a lot you’ll need to be brought up to speed on, but there will be time for all that,” Connor said.

  Sean’s gaze hardened. “They’re hunting for us. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

  “Indeed,” Nathan agreed. “We’ll get to all that,” he said and glanced at Connor. Connor wondered what Nathan had in mind but saved that question for later.

  “Brody snapped,” Sean said. “He snapped under my watch, and I didn’t see it coming until it was too late.”

  Connor and Nathan were both quiet, waiting for Sean to continue.

  “I’ve been going over everything that happened leading up to the mutiny—reviewing reports and going back through my meetings with Brody—trying to objectively look for some sign that would have given the slightest indication of where things were heading. And . . .” he said, pausing for a few seconds to collect his thoughts, “. . . now I don’t know if I’m just seeing things because I know what happened. So, it’s got this bias now . . . I trusted him. We had our differences, but we had an understanding. He raised good points during planning sessions. He was my XO. The mutiny shouldn’t have happened,” Sean said with a slight shake of his head. “I understand that there’s going to be a lot of people angry about what happened to Brody and the other mutineers. There’s going to be a lot of people questioning what I did. I’ve been questioning it myself since it all happened, and I don’t know what I could’ve done differently to prevent the mutiny from happening in the first place.”

  “Maybe you couldn’t have prevented it,” Connor said. “Maybe in that situation with those soldiers, it was unavoidable. The purpose of the investigation is to reveal whether that was the case. The facts are pretty clear. You didn’t give an unlawful command. That’s not going to sit well with the civilians, but civilians aren’t on the front lines. You’re right, Sean. Brody cracked under the pressure. Everyone has a breaking point. We all do, but you didn’t reach yours. You held everyone together, even after the mutiny, and got them home alive. Not only that, you brought home critical intel about our enemy.”

  Sean was quiet for a few moments and then nodded.

  "Sean," Nathan said. "Why don't you get some rest and we'll continue to sort this out.

  Sean left the conference room, and Connor and Nathan were alone.

  “What a mess,” Connor said.

  “It’s about to get worse. News of the mutineers' deaths has spread. We’ll need to assign a protective detail to Sean for the time being. Just until we sort this out.”

  Connor nodded. “All right, let’s get the others in here and start piecing this together.”

  They needed to provide an official report to Governor Wolf and then deal with the inevitable fallout from that.

  30

  In the weeks following Sean's return, there had been long days of intensive debriefings that felt more like interrogations, like he was standing trial. Connor and Nathan weren’t leaving anything to chance. Every after-action report was scrutinized closely.

  Sean was prepared for news of the mutiny to make its way into the public eye. While military personnel could be instructed that events were classified, there was no such agreement with civilians. The CDF was getting pressure from the colonial government for an official report regarding its stance on Sean’s actions.

  Officially, he was still allowed to come and go as he pleased, but he simply hadn’t had the time to leave the base. Sean was being called upon to relive some of the most intense moments of his life over and over again to be scrutinized by other people. Now that he wasn’t on the Vigilant and in enemy territory, Sean and the other members of his team had had time to reflect on what happened. Major Vanessa Shelton had also endured grueling hours of questioning, which she’d taken in stride, and spent her evenings working out, punching a heavy bag. She’d recommended it to Sean, and he found it was a great way to blow off some steam.

  It was early afternoon, and the days were starting to blur together. They were in the middle of a recess, but he knew they'd be sending somebody for him soon. Sean decided to take a walk. He needed to stretch his legs, so he left the main administration building on the CDF base. His two military escorts were an appropriate distance behind him.

  The air outside was a bit humid and the skies were gray. It would probably rain later. He found that he kept looking up at the sky. He was still adjusting to not living on a ship. It was nice to be planetside again, but he’d spent too much time sitting in a chair these recent weeks, and he was becoming restless. He needed to move and be active again.

  He heard someone call his name and turned to see Noah jogging toward him. Sean smiled and gave his friend a bear hug.

  “I guess you hadn’t heard, but I woke up,” Noah said.

  “They’ve been keeping me busy,” Sean said. “It’s really good to see you. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

  “I’m getting there. It took me a few days to even be able to get access to you. It’s good to see you too.”

  They were both quiet for long enough that it was almost becoming an awkward silence. So much had happened to both of them.

  “I’m not going to ask you about any of that stuff that’s been on the news-net or anything like that.”

  “I heard about Lars,” Sean said, switching the subject.

  “Yeah, he’s being detained at a facility in New Delhi,” Noah said. “I’ve been reviewing some of the research that's been done on the space gate. I’m trying to meet with the scientists involved.”

  “You should talk to Oriana. She came up with the foundation for the theory that we’re working with. We’re pretty close. I could introduce you to her. Her name is Oriana Evans,” Sean said. He hadn’t seen Oriana at all since they returned home. Civilians were undergoing their own debriefing, and he was getting worried.

  Noah’s eyes widened. “Evans? Her last name is Evans?”

  Sean frowned. “Yes. Why?”

  Noah looked away for a moment and then gave Sean a guilty look. “Does she have a brother?”

  Sean nodded. “She does. His name is Colton—" Sean stopped at the look on Noah's face. "What’s the matter?”

  Noah swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to tell you this. Colton Evans was working with Lars, and he was a terrorist. He’s de
ad. Lars killed him. Colton Evans was responsible for killing both Ovarrow and colonists.”

  “Lars killed him?” Sean said in surprise.

  “Colton almost killed Connor and a lot of soldiers, and Lars stopped him.”

  Sean frowned and looked away for a moment. Oriana’s brother was dead. That could be why she hadn’t contacted him. He needed to find her. Sean glanced back at his escorts for a moment. Then he turned back to Noah. “I need to know everything about this. And I need a ride.”

  Noah nodded, and at the same time, a young soldier ran over to Sean. “Colonel Quinn, they're ready for you to return.”

  Sean muttered a curse under his breath. “Private, tell them I had to leave. They’ll need to reschedule.”

  The young soldier blinked rapidly. “Yes, sir,” he stammered.

  Sean followed Noah, and his escorts followed him. Noah glanced at the soldiers questioningly.

  “They're with me,” Sean said.

  As they walked, Noah told Sean about what had happened with the rogue group Lars had been part of. Sean considered opening a comlink to Oriana, but if she was grieving, he needed to see her in person. She had her own apartment on the outskirts of Sierra, and it was a relatively short ride by C-cat. Noah flew them to the nearest landing area and Sean climbed out.

  “Do you want me to wait for you?” Noah asked.

  “No, I don’t want to keep you. I’ll find another way back. Thanks for coming to see me. I’ll get to Sanctuary as soon as I can,” Sean said.

  He headed to the apartment building and was soon standing outside Oriana’s door. He glanced at the two soldiers behind him.

  “We’ll wait outside, sir,” one of the soldiers said.

  Sean knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He called out for Oriana, but there still wasn’t an answer. He was about to knock again when the door opened and he peered inside Oriana’s apartment. She was sitting on the couch with her arms wrapped around her legs, which were pulled up to her chest. He walked inside and the door shut behind him.

  She didn’t look at him. She was staring at nothing in the general direction of the floor. Her eyes were puffy and red, and it was easy to see that she’d been crying.

  Sean slowly walked into the room and couldn’t think of anything to say to her. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t say anything. He sat down next to her and rubbed her back. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned toward him, and they sat like that for a few minutes.

  “I just heard about your brother. I’m so sorry,” Sean said.

  Oriana lifted her head and looked at him. “I didn’t . . .” she said, pausing for a moment, “. . . I didn’t want to bother you.”

  Sean hugged her. “You . . . I’m here for you, no matter what. You know that.”

  Oriana nodded into his shoulder and he felt her tremble just a little bit. “I should have been here for him. I could’ve . . . I should have been here.”

  Sean didn’t know what to say. What could he have said? His friend had killed her brother. They sat there together, holding each other on the couch, and eventually they fell asleep. It wasn't a fitful sleep, filled with nightmares, but a deep, dreamless sleep as if neither one of them had slept in months.

  31

  Connor walked into the Colonial Administration Building. Both he and Nathan were meeting with the Security Council to review the official Trident Battle Group report.

  They entered the meeting room that was already occupied by Dana Wolf, Jean Larson, Damon Mills, Clinton Edwards, and Connor’s favorite person, Bob Mullins.

  “Gentlemen,” Governor Wolf said, “thank you for coming. We understand that preparing this report has required a huge effort.”

  Connor and Nathan sat down.

  “I want to go over some of the preliminaries so we're all on the same page,” Dana said. “But before I begin, is there anything either of you would like to say?”

  “Just that we'll cooperate in any way that we can to put this whole thing behind us,” Nathan said.

  Dana looked at Connor, but he didn’t have anything to say at the moment. It was probably better that he didn’t say anything, at least right then.

  “According to the CDF charter, Lester Brody was found guilty of sedition and mutiny. He was supported by twenty-six senior officers, which included the captains and XOs of three destroyer class vessels. No one here is going to argue that Lester Brody wasn’t guilty of what he did and the situation he created. However, what we do have questions about is the handling of the mutineers who surrendered to the Spec Ops teams—those officers Colonel Sean Quinn executed by way of opening an airlock with them inside, exposing them to deep space.”

  Governor Wolf paused for a moment and Connor waited for her to continue.

  “I think I speak for most people here by saying that these actions are highly disturbing.”

  “I agree,” Connor said. “But Colonel Quinn did what he had to do to preserve the chain of command.”

  Bob Mullins leaned forward. “And this gives him the right to be judge, jury, and executioner?”

  “In this case, it does,” Connor said. “Without the chain of command in those conditions, you have anarchy. Colonel Quinn was establishing order.”

  “By murdering twenty-six people?” Mullins said.

  Connor leaned forward. “Not twenty-six people. These were senior officers in command of military warships. They chose to disobey their commanding officer, and not only that, they tried to blockade them from the mobile space gate. They’re not just twenty-six random people,” Connor said, and his gaze swept across the Security Council. “These were officers who had access to the most destructive weapons in our arsenal. The equivalent would be if I were here and pointed a weapon at all of you. To go one step further, we'd be in enemy territory with the Krake breathing down our necks. So, you can try to compartmentalize what you think are the important points, but not taking the entire situation into context would be a disservice to everyone involved.”

  Mullins narrowed his gaze.

  “Bob,” Dana said.

  Mullins leaned back. “I apologize, General Gates. I didn’t mean to imply that the deaths of the mutineers should be considered out of context of the entire situation. However, I’d like to highlight the point that the mutineers had been taken into custody. They’d also taken the civilian mutineers, but Colonel Quinn didn't have them executed.”

  “No, he detained them.”

  “So detaining was an option. Why didn’t Colonel Quinn choose that for those officers?” Mullins asked.

  “It’s in the report. We’ve questioned Colonel Quinn extensively on that point. In his own words, he'd decided that they were a threat. There was a significant risk that they couldn't be held in custody.”

  “He didn’t think he could hold them, so he had them executed, and both you and General Hayes are okay with this. Do you condone these actions?” Mullins asked.

  “This is pure speculation,” Nathan said. “You can ask me and General Gates how we would’ve handled the situation, but we weren't in that situation. We might have an opinion that we can safely offer here, comfortable in this room, but would it have been the right call? We’ll never know.”

  Mullins looked at Connor. “General Gates, I know you have strong opinions about this.”

  Connor clenched his teeth for a moment and inhaled deeply. “You want to know if I'd have done the same thing if I'd been in command of Trident Battle Group. Despite wearing the same uniform, we’re not all the same, but I’m not afraid to answer the question. If I had been in Colonel Quinn’s position, I would’ve done the same damn thing. I would’ve executed the mutineers because it would have saved lives in the long run. Colonel Quinn was in an extremely hostile situation with an enemy who, in a lot of ways, is superior to our current capabilities, and that wasn't the time to allow the chain of command to unravel. We don’t make commands by popular vote, especially not on a warship. You cannot win a war that way. And make no mistake, this wa
s a war scenario. Nathan is right. This is pure speculation, but I wanted to give you an answer because I’m not afraid to give you an answer. I’m not going to hide behind rules and regulations that I helped create. There are reasons why a commanding officer has that kind of power. I realize this is difficult for you to understand, and it might appear to be brutal, but you’re not out there.”

  “You’re right. We're not,” Mullins said. “What we’re trying to determine is whether or not this was a grievous abuse of power.”

  “You asked if I’m okay with the situation, and I want all of you to know that I’m not," Connor said. "I want to know where we failed. You seek to point a finger at Colonel Quinn, but I want to know how I let an officer like Brody command a warship. Colonel Quinn’s actions were within his rights as commanding officer of Trident Battle Group.”

  Mullins regarded Connor for a few moments and then looked at Governor Wolf.

  “General Hayes,” Dana said, “I understand your point about being speculative regarding the situation, but given your experience and the facts, how do you think you would have handled that situation?”

  “I would’ve reasserted control to preserve the chain of command. I would’ve used deadly force, but what you really want to know is whether I would have executed the mutineers that had been taken into custody,” Nathan said, and paused for a few seconds. “I’ve tried to put myself in that situation ever since I learned about it. What would I have done? And more importantly, did I believe Colonel Quinn had taken appropriate action?

  "First, within the letter of the CDF charter, my opinion is that Colonel Quinn acted within his rights as a commanding officer. But to answer your other question, I would not have executed the mutineers that I had taken into custody. I would have detained them, and they would’ve been brought back here to be dishonorably discharged and put in prison.” A flurry of comments began from Mullins and the others. “However,” Nathan continued, and the room became quiet, “if detaining the mutineers became an issue, as in they once again attempted to take control of a ship or even the entire battle group, I would have done exactly as Colonel Quinn had done."